Questions about PLME/HPME and chances

Pre-Med & Medical School Multiple Degree Programs
1

<p>I was wondering which one is thought of as the best and which med school/affiliate hospital is the best (rotations etc.)? Also please let me know my chances!</p>

<p>CHANCES:
I am a rising junior at a private school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and I am white but I think Brown has a blind application. Anyway I was looking for some advice from people that have applied to Brown and/or PLME or current students on whether I have a good chance and what I should improve on.</p>

<p>Classes:
Freshman and Sophomore:
-Everything that can be taken honors, I have taken honors.
-Exception from normal first 2 years is that I have already taken honors bio, chem, and physics.</p>

<p>Junior year:
-English (my school only has one option)
-Honors Pre-Calculus
-AP US History
-AP Latin Vergil
-AP Biology
-Independent Research Class</p>

<p>Senior year:
-2 English electives
-AP Econ most likely
-AP Latin literature (kill me)
-AP Chem
-Maybe AP Physics
-Science electives (anatomy most likely and something else)</p>

<p>Grades:
-All A-'s to A's and one B+
-GPA: 3.87
-ACT: Haven't taken the real one but I got a 30 on the practice without studying at all</p>

<p>Sports:
-JV XC
-JV Squash
-Varsity Swim Team
-Varsity Sailing Team</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Model UN Club
-FOCUS Club
-I am working on an independent research project. I am engineering a hydrogel scaffold to optimize the differentiation of a certain type of stem cells into cartilage. I am working in conjunction with an institute at the National Institute of Health.</p>

<p>Summers:
Between Freshman and Sophomore:
-Lead America Medicine and Healthcare conference at Johns Hopkins University
-Volunteer program at Georgetown University Hospital mostly in the surgery department</p>

<p>Between Sophomore and Junior:
-I am currently working at the National Institute of Health in the National Chemical Genomics Institute working to synthesis new therapies for rare diseases. This job is not related to my independent research and was obtained separately.
-Working at an ice-cream stand (Free ice-cream!)</p>

<p>Any advice would be much appreciated!</p>

2

<p>GPA is unweighted</p>

3

<p>Tough to say your chances without your SAT/ACT score, but in terms of extra-cirriculars I think you’re fine. The only thing that could bring you down are your numbers possibly. Most critical thing for PLME is the essay. You really have to kill it and make it convincing. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Get group or individual tutoring for your SAT’s. It is money well spent. Try to avoid getting anymore B’s. That genome work will make you stick out from the pack. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>P.S. that research project is also great. Especially since Brown is an ivy, I would buy or borrow from the library " A is for admission" by Michelle Hernandez. Out of the 25 college books that I read for my D, that book was the best for ivies and the combined programs since they are some of the most difficult undergrad programs around.</p>

6

<p>Thanks so much guys. I am actually starting tutoring for the act this week. Ill make sure to have a good essay!</p>

7

<p>I need to know your SAT/ACT scores to do an accurate chancing. But w/ your GPA and extracurricular, as long as your test scores are 35+ or 2300+ then you should have a very good chance (maybe 50%?).</p>

8

<p>If you can get a 34/2250 or more on standardized tests then I think you have a very good chance at Brown. You’ll be a pretty solid applicant. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>Wait I forgot to mention my independent project is a new treatment for Iraq veterans. Also I just got a 34 on a practice test is that good enough?</p>

10

<p>Keep in prospective…it is easier to get to Northwestern Med. School regular route than into HPME…</p>

11

<p>I know but it’s 7 years instead of 8 and no MCAT.</p>

12

<p>Like others have said, it is rather difficult to give an accurate chancing without any standardized test scores. However, you seem very driven and are on your way to achieving your goals.
If your practice test scores are that amazing, you should have no trouble on the real thing. If you do as well as you have on practice tests, you are definitely in the running as a qualified applicant to any one of the schools you mentioned.
For medical schools, several Ivies are very well-known for their med programs. Cornell, especially, has been quite popular lately. It’s undergrad program truly prepares you for grad school. Duke offers very strong science programs as well.
Take this summer and next year’s spring break to possibly visit a few colleges. That way, you’ll be armed with more than stats when you apply.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

13

<p>This is pretty late, but HPME caught my eye. To be honest, I don’t know much about PLME, so instead of trying to tell you something about that, I’ll just leave it alone, LOL.</p>

<p>Anyway, you might have already seen this, but here are HPME’s entrance requirements: [Entrance</a> Requirements : Education: Feinberg School of Medicine: Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/education/degree-programs/hpme/entrance-requirements.html]Entrance”>http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/education/degree-programs/hpme/entrance-requirements.html) </p>

<p>So you obviously need excellent test scores, for the ACT and for your SAT Subject Tests in Math 2 and Chem. Don’t be discouraged: 34 is totally fine and as for the SAT Subject Tests, just do your best. 760+'s would be preferable, but I’ve known people to get in with 720’s, too. With Chem and Pre-Cal already under your belt you should be fine, just brush up with a prep book for best results. Oh, yeah, and you MUST take Physics and Calculus senior year!</p>

<p>Like I said, I’m not too knowledgeable about PLME, but I THINK that their course requirements are more flexible. Anyways, keep in mind that even though all these requirements are intimidating, they’re just to get you through the door. When you apply for the application (LOL), it’s purely based on GPA and scores, and they usually give the app out to 90% of people so you should be totally fine.</p>

<p>Then for the real app is where extracurriculars and essays come in. You MUST show your passion for medicine. Sounds obvious, but just make sure you spend a lot of time on the essay - it’s the most important thing on the app, I know this almost for a fact for HPME and PLME both. Start gathering ideas from now, and keep them in a notebook. Check out a book on writing good college app essays. HPME’s prompt is always something about a personal history, interest in medicine (sorry, I’m too lazy to look up the full wording). Luckily for you, your summers sound very solid and they should be somewhat impressed (I say somewhat because many other crazy students may have similar activities). If you can write a essay that is genuine and strong, that will impress them further and may get you your acceptance.</p>

<p>Well, this turned out to be more like advice, but I hope I helped. Your academics look strong, so keep it up. Weighted GPA?</p>

<p>Good luck! Both are very desirable programs. HPME is nice because the med school campus is very close to the undergrad campus. Feinberg is also a top med school. I would say, this summer, do some research yourself so you can shape your own understanding of how these programs and their admissions work. I know there’s a looong but very helpful thread for HPME on this site.</p>